Hi from a Bradford school

[gillyteacher]

Hello,
I am a teacher in a inner city school. We have a pretty dreary ex coal yard in our school grounds which we would like to turn into a courtyard garden where we can grow salad vegetables and herbs.
The walls are stone and the yard is completely tarmaced. I have ten men for a day and £500 (thanks to Yorkshire Water) .
I want our children aged from 3 to 11 to have a wonderful and lasting secret garden where they can learn about the magic of growing.
I don't have much experience so I hope by joining the web-site I will get some advice to enable this to all happen.
I am at the moment trying to work out how to construct raised beds that have adequate drainage in spite of being on tarmac ( I can't dig the tarmac out )Any suggestions?

[Alice]

Welcome to the Vine Gillyteacher. I'm sure we all wish you well with your project and see how worth while it is. It is a big project and it might be hard to get someone to just come on and tell you how to do everything. You might get better suggestions if you break it all down into smaller questions.

In relation to your raised bed drainage question - what about using grow bags. I believe you can get sorrt of double thickness ones now.

See what other replies you get. Good luck.

[SarzWix]

Hi GillyTeacher, welcome to the 'Vine
What an exciting project, but I can imagine it feels a bit daunting too!
My first thoughts would be to build raised beds around the walls, you don't say how much space you have available, but I would think that timber is probably the cheapest option. You would need to draw up a plan first to work out how much you'll need, then ring places like Arnold Laver's (sp?) on Canal Road, or Jewsons for prices. As a rough estimate for bed size, it would need to be the right height for the children to be able to reach to the soil near the back from a standing position (this way you'll get more depth of soil than if the kids were working kneeling down) Then if there's room (and enough money in the kitty!) you can put beds in the middle too, working from the same height but width adjusted because the kids can work from both sides. Don't forget you'll have to fill the beds with something too (I'm sorry, I can't remember how to work out volume from H/W/D measurement ). There are lots of places who will deliver topsoil/compost in bulk (ie A tonnne load) Gravel, Topsoil, Bark, Compost, Turf - Dandys Gravel Suppliers Shop is one, but ring round to get a good price. You'll also need a layer of gravel in the bottom of the beds to help with drainage, so don't forget to cost for that.
What else? Seating? A lean-to greenhouse to go on a south-facing wall? Pots & containers to fit in the gaps? Some of your walls (South or SouthWest facing) will be brilliant to grow fruit trees against if you're feeling a bit adventurous! Peaches, nectarines, cherries will like the warmth stored by the wall, and probably good for a lesson in heat convection or something?
As for planting, to save money get intouch with companies like Thompson&Morgan, Suttons etc and ask if they have any schemes for schools (giveaways hopefully, be cheeky!) also Dig for Their Future - Rocket Gardens in School - Instant organic vegetable garden uk - Rocket Gardens will sell you a complete garden in plug plants (if it gets too late to sow your own) and have loads of useful information too - they recommend getting a local business to sponsor your garden for instance. You may be able to get additional funding & help from other places too - B&Q have community project grants & the Co-op also give money to local projects.

Hope this massive ramble has been some use...?!
Good luck, & PM me any time if I can do anything useful

[gillyteacher]

Thank you so much!

Thank you for the advice about how to tackle the raised beds on tarmac. I am going to take the advice and break down what seems to be a huge task into manageable pieces!
The Challenge Day when the men and equipment arrive is sometime in June so I am currently writing an action plan to ensure the design is right for the space and the children who will use it, and that we will have all the materials and resources we need on the day to produce a lovely courtyard.
I also intend to keep a log and diary as I think it might be useful for other schools who might be thinking of taking the plunge into school gardening.
Thank you so much for the welcome to the forum and I will keep you updated on our progress.

[SarzWix]

The Challenge Day when the men and equipment arrive is sometime in June so I am currently writing an action plan to ensure the design is right for the space and the children who will use it, and that we will have all the materials and resources we need on the day to produce a lovely courtyard.
I also intend to keep a log and diary as I think it might be useful for other schools who might be thinking of taking the plunge into school gardening.
Thank you so much for the welcome to the forum and I will keep you updated on our progress.

If the beds won't be built 'til June, you could do with the kids sowing seeds & growing on some plants in pots, so you have some stuff ready to plant out. If you don't have a greenhouse or any 'safe from footballs' space outside, do you have lots of sunny windowsills? Another thought which occurred to me was (if you have time!) you could get in touch with your nearest allotment association and ask if their members would like to grow some extra plants for the garden? I'd do it like a shot if my local school asked me to! You might get some offers of other help from them too.

The log is a good idea, this is something which a lot of schools are starting to do, and I'm sure your observations of the ups-and-downs as well as the technical aspects will be really useful to others.
I'll look forward to hearing about it

[yoanbob]

Hi Gillyteacher,
What a wonderfull idea!!!!
Have you thought about having a wildlife encouraging area? Herbs are great but I wouldnt have thought you could capture kids imajinations with tyme, chives are good for kids as are all the pick and come again salads as they grow fast and kids can just pick and eat.
I will donate you some seeds if I have any you want. I have sent you a PM

Good luck!

[bluemoon]

Hi Gillyteacher, try the local university. They often have voluntary work schemes and might come along to help. They can often give you some funding too. These things are usually run by the union rather than the uni itself and they are always looking for local projects like this to get involved in. And post your needs in the seed swap section here, Grapes usually have loads of stuff sitting in seed-boxes waiting for a good home.

[gemlady]

Hi Gillyteacher, and welcome This sounds like a great project, and I'm sure both you and the children will learn a lot. May be worth trying to contact a local allotment association, I'm sure they would also be willing to give you lots of hints and tips and may even be willing to help with the project. Look forward to reading about your progress. Good Luck!

[Digger-07]

If you need extra help have a word with the probation service, they might be able to use their clients and yours would get to know first hand about getting into trouble. It's better than going to prison - I work in one.